The present invention relates to a new and improved construction of a chair or the like, whose chair frame is equipped with a seat portion and a backrest portion and is supported on a support or carrier portion forming part of the chair pedestal or base and which support or carrier portion is provided with a projecting support arm.
Numerous different constructions of such type chairs are well known in this art. In order to increase sitting comfort, it is known to construct the seat portion so as to pivot or swivel with respect to the support or carrier portion or part, a spring element exerting an opposing force for supporting the body weight of the sitting person or occupant. If the seating comfort is to be further increased, particularly through the sitting person assuming a so-called relax or reclined position, it is also known to pivot the backrest portion with respect to the seat portion. Here again it is necessary to produce an opposing force by one or more correspondingly positioned spring elements to the forces exerted on the backrest portion by the chair occupant.
The forces exerted by the occupant on the seat portion and the backrest portion and which are transferred to the support or carrier portion or part are considerable. In the case of chairs with a pivotable seat portion and/or a pivotable backrest portion, it is necessary to support these two chair portions for ensuring the mobility thereof on a chair frame. The term chair frame is here understood to encompass components, elements or parts such as links or link elements or brackets, levers and spring elements, with the aid of which the seat portion and the backrest portion are supported on the support or carrier portion or part. However, as the chair frame must be accommodated in a minimum amount of space, as a result of the nature of the arrangement of these components, elements or parts, they must partially absorb much higher forces than merely that of the body weight of the chair occupant and, in particular, the spring elements must be designed to take-up quite considerable forces. They therefore have an unfavorable influence on the manufacturing costs.